'IPL bonhomie will avoid Sydney-like fiasco'

If Daryl Harper is to be believed, the stressbuster that top umpires are looking for these days is Twenty20 cricket. The Aussie, who was one of the umpires for Team Chennai's game against Mumbai Indians, told the TOI, it's always much easier officiating in T20 cricket.

"The batsmen go hard at the ball and if there are nicks, those are generally loud and clear. There aren't any bat pad decisions to make either," Harper said before the game on Tuesday.

"Another good thing about T20 cricket is that the commentators don't get too much time to dwell on a wrong decision. In Test cricket, they go on and on and one fault gets magnified too much," he said, adding that

"it's a relief that the umpire's name is generally not there in the newspapers the next day".

There are, however, new responsibilities for an umpire in a T20 game and Harper is enjoying it all the same. "The other day in Mumbai, just before the game started, there were smouldering paper and debris inside the ground. Had we not noticed it, any player could have got injured. We had to clear all those before the game got off," Harper said with a smile.

The Aussie Elite Panel umpire feels this T20 stint will freshen him up before his next international commitments. "I officiated in an international match in March, my next commitment is in July... So, what better than this fabulous T20 tournament in between," the chirpy Aussie said.

The umpire believes that this tournament will go a long way in easing the tensions among the different cricketing nations around the world. "I believe that had this tournament been played in November last year, there wouldn't have been the Sydney controversy. Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting, having shared the same dressing-room for a more than a month, would have known each other far better and wouldn't have behaved the way they did during the Test," he said, referring to the crucial second-innings dismissal where Ponting gave Sourav out and umpire Mark Benson obliged.

The conversation moved on to the topic of "three referrals" that the ICC has decided to allow each team in an innings which would be in place from the England-South Africa series. "I don't mind this at all. The friction between the players will lessen, they won't hold the umpires as villains, and the game will have purer results," Harper said. But doesn't he think that the over-insistence on technology will make the onfield umpire redundant one day? "He will still be needed to hold the bowlers' caps," the Aussie quipped, adding: "Yes, it will happen, but that's still far away."

He is also dead against the idea of having a "home umpire" for a Test match, a plan that has been mulled in some sections to have only the best officials adjudicating in the game. "I believe that it will be a step in the wrong direction. I don't see FIFA allowing an English referee to host an England-France game...So why should it be any different in cricket?" he asked.

For now, though, Harper, is soaking in every moment of his Indian summer. "It started off with me playing the role of an umpire in the film Victory. Now, it's real time action, the dance, the colour, the beautiful girls, and the chance to meet SRK...I'm looking forward to it all," he said, before going into the restaurant for lunch.